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Words and photos by Meg Sweeney
My Precious Bunny is Lily Wolter’s glittering solo project, where Brighton friendships and childhood nostalgia shape her debut album, A Moment in My Eyes.
My Precious Bunny is the name on the sleeve, but Lily’s debut solo album feels anything but solitary. Better known as one half of sibling duo Penelope Isles, Lily has built her new project alongside her friends and musical companions from across Brighton's endlessly collaborative creative community. With her seven-piece live band drawing members from AtticOmatic, Currls and Cainn Caphiall, and a home at Bella Union that feels as much like family as it does a record label, My Precious Bunny is a project people can't help but devote themselves to.
That same love and warmth runs through the record itself. Echoes of 2000s and 2010s indie shimmer beneath crunchy guitars, widescreen synths and divine vocal harmonies, whilst clarinet, saxophone and gentler acoustic passages soften the edges without ever dulling Lily's incisive lyricism. It's a record rich with texture and colour, constantly shifting between intimate confession and euphoric, effervescent release.
Its artwork captures that unique spirit perfectly. Gazing out behind glittery eyeshadow, Lily has stickers scattered across her face and oil-slick spaghetti draped over her head like edible worm hair - a classic childhood fantasy finally realised as an adult. It’s as playful as it is thoughtful, with each cartoon kiddie’s sticker representing something meaningful to Lily. Vulnerable, vibrant and delightfully kooky, it mirrors the music's ability to balance childlike wonder with emotional weight.
Although its roots stretch back to Lily's teenage years, A Moment in My Eyes truly came together during lockdown, amid fresh heartbreak and the existential haze that defined those years. Yet it somehow never feels heavy. It radiates the joyful glow of long summer evenings, scraped knees and half-forgotten childhood memories. Songs about body image, food, love and growing up become oddly comforting, transformed into something warm, fuzzy and triumphant.
At this year’s Great Escape, we found a patch of grass outside St Nicholas' Church between rain showers to speak with Lily ahead of her five My Precious Bunny shows. We ended up catching two of them on Saturday. The first at the 500-capacity seafront cavern of Quarters was simply too good not to follow up with a second set at The Oak, where a more intimate, freewheeling performance brought the festival weekend to a rapturous close.
A Moment in My Eyes artwork
Thanks for joining us amidst your five Great Escape shows! You’re one half of beloved Penelope Isles, but when did My Precious Bunny evolve?
I started this project when I was about 16 and it used to be called Kookie Lou, and I did a couple of things on Bandcamp, and then I started Penelope Isles with my brother about 10 years ago, and that was just our life. We were doing 100 shows a year for years and years, and then we took a break, which was only supposed to be a year but turned into three years.
I started writing all these demos in lockdown, and I thought they were going to be for Penelope Isles, and then my brother started playing guitar for CMAT, so next thing you know, he's away for years, and I needed something to do while he was off touring the world. So, that's when I started My Precious Bunny.
That’s all so exciting. Does the My Precious Bunny album feel like a long time coming then?
There were definitely times when I didn’t have Penny Isles and starting a project from the beginning felt like a bit of a step backwards. I was feeling like I wasn't really accomplishing what I thought I would have accomplished by 30, so that was definitely really hard times with my mental health. But now I feel like I'm in a place where we're back into it and I feel really lucky for how it's happened.
How do you know if it’s a Penelope Isles song or a My Precious Bunny song?
This is really hard and funny because before I started it I thought, “this is just gonna sound like Penny Isles.” Luckily, everything I was writing was for this project but I imagine going forward next year when we're back in the Penny Isles zone, and I'm writing new songs for both, I imagine it's going to be more difficult. I feel like if you get a corker, there's definitely going to be a row with my brother about what it's for, and vice versa, because he's got a solo project called Cub Zoa. But also, no one gives a shit and it's cool to weave in and out of projects.
Did you guys have a very musical upbringing?
Our parents aren't musicians but they love music. We always had music on in the house and we had one of those CD players that rotates with like 12 CDs. My mum was into great music, she loved Steely Dan, Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac, and all that stuff. They got us into Amy Winehouse, The Coral and The Strokes. Two bands we were raised on were The Magic Numbers and The Thrills, and loads of those 2008 bands. They were very, very encouraging. They were never pushing me to do something academic or money-earning. My mum's just started learning piano, which is completely adorable.
I love the name and the album cover with spaghetti as your hair is amazing - it feels so nostalgic and makes me want to be a kid again. I wondered whether you’re tapping into your inner child with the project?
You've really grasped what I was going for. I wanted that summer's night feeling, when you've been out all day playing in the garden and it gets a bit darker. With the spaghetti… my brother and my boyfriend were helping me do the photoshoot and my boyfriend took the photo. They weren’t really up for the spaghetti and then the last five or six shots, I was like, “I'm gonna do the spaghetti thing now.” I'm so happy I did it because they were way cooler than all of the others. The reason why it's spaghetti is because there's a few nods to eating stuff, and my relationship with my weight, and food, and image. I’ve also always wanted to make a massive pot of spaghetti and put my hand in it and completely engorge as much of it as I can.
The stickers all over your face are so fun as well.
The stickers all actually have meaning as well; there's like a burger on my throat for the food stuff, there's broccoli on my chin about trying to eat healthily, and there's an aubergine on my forehead, like, dick on the brain, I’ve got my birthday on my cheek, and I’ve got a guitar and music stuff where my voice is. There was about 40 more stickers on my face but when I started putting the spaghetti on my hair, a lot of the stickers were coming off because my face was getting oily.
What drives you to create?
I haven't written a song in ages, and I'll be very honest, I find it really, really hard. In lockdown, I was writing loads because I was just freshly heartbroken and had fallen in love with someone else, and I really vibe off romantic drama. Whereas, at the moment, I'm feeling very secure in my relationship, and I'm trying to teach myself how to write about stuff that isn't like heartache or toxicness, and it's fucking difficult! Do you know someone that's amazing at doing that? Jeff Tweedy. He’s still busting out songs about a glass on the side of the room or a light switch, and it'll be the most beautiful thing you've ever heard. Or Bill Callahan. I really love artists that can write such a beautiful thing about nothing.
How long have you been in Brighton? And what is it that keeps you here?
I've been here 12 years, which is crazy. Brighton sucks you in and it’s really hard to leave. I’ve had a couple of times where I've been like, “I'm out of here,” when things have felt hard, but at the moment I'm in a really good spot. I live with my best mates and partner, who are also in My Precious Bunny, and I've got a studio down the road. When it's good weather and I've got all my pals close, how could I possibly leave this place? I think the day will eventually come because I can't deal with how horrendous it is finding a parking space and I really want to be one of those 40-50 year old women that are amazing surfers, so I'm gonna have to move somewhere where I can go surfing every day.
What’s it like working with local indie label Bella Union?
They’ve been a big part of my life since 2019 when Penelope Isles got signed, and for the last two years I've been working in the vinyl shop in the Laines. I feel really, really lucky to live in the same city as my label, it's so handy, and I'm always in there bagging myself a free coffee and doing my work there. It’s also cool to be on the same label as so many bands that I've grown up absolutely loving like Beach House and Fleet Foxes, Flaming Lips and Father John Misty.
You’ve brought your lockdown solo project to a live ensemble group of six other musicians. How did it feel to bring your music to others for recording and playing live?
It massively got me out of a slump. When I was writing in lockdown, Penny Isles were still very active then and when the gates opened after lockdown, we were touring for a good year. But then when we took a little break and I went traveling, that's when I was feeling the blues. When we had the first band practice with all seven of us, it was so unbelievably wholesome and exciting. Everyone's amazing and I'd been really specific about who I wanted: people that were first of all great craic, no pass-ag behaviour, no egos, and just genuinely sweet and lovely. I feel like I've nailed it. It's such a beautiful experience being together, and whenever we go away and when we're together doing it, it just feels like you're on holiday! It feels like we're like teenagers again.
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